Cosplay
by KageNoYoko
Summary: As Sanae tries to introduce her fellow Shrine maiden to one of her Favorite hobbies from beyond the border, The two girls will begin to realize things about each other, and themselves, that they were never aware of. A series of One-shots, all in-Canon with my other Touhou stories. So far implied ReiSanae, MariAli, and possibly implied Yukareimu. Rated T for intermittent swearing.
1. Chapter 1

"So, tell me again how you got me to agree to this, you second-rate shrine maiden?" Reimu mumbled crossly as she stood in the middle of Sanae's room, arms crossed over her chest and tapping her finger impatiently.

"Oh c'mon Reimu-san, don't be so grumpy! I just wanted the two of us to spend a day together," The green-haired shrine maiden shouted back from within her extra-large closet, "No animosity, no hatred, no rivalry, just two girls, having fun."

"I had things to do back at the shrine," Reimu complained in response, but this did little to deter the other girl's spirits.

It might not have helped that upon arrival (read: Sanae half dragging the girl up the mountain to the Moriya shrine) Sanae had ordered the red-white to strip down to her undergarments and wait there, without telling her about anything the human girl had planned for her during this "day off" as she put it.

Reimu shivered unconsciously. It might have been the middle of summer in Gensokyo, a time for Marisa to be off causing trouble at the scarlet devil mansion, a time for Yuuka to be a noticeable threat to the peace of the land of fantasy, and a time for Cirno to be...well, still a baka, she supposed, but despite the humid air, standing around in only her sarashi and bloomers still made the girl feel cold. It didn't help that Sanae had left her window open, allowing a breeze to waft into the room, carrying along with it the smell of something delicious cooking outside.

Reimu was determined to ask about that wonderful smell once Sanae got sick of harassing her with whatever harebrained scheme she had up her sleeves this time.

The shrine maiden of paradise couldn't even put back on her shrine maiden uniform, since the minute it was off Sanae had taken off with it, along with all of the exorcism slips she had stored in various pockets throughout the outfit, leaving the girl mostly defenceless (She still had access to the Hakurei yin-yang orbs thankfully, so she wasn't totally vulnerable.)

"Sanae, how much longer am I going to have to stand here!" Reimu shouted, growing more restless as she stood there, listening to the green-haired girl curse from within her closet, along with the cacophony of loud crashes and bangs, which made the girl curious just what that girl might have in that hammer-space of hers.

With a joyous cry of "Found it!" Sanae finally emerged from her closet, still fully dressed, with several clothes hangers hooked over her arm, and one in her hands, which made Reimu nervous for some reason.

"And just what are all of those for, planning to try and make your wardrobe not look quite so similar to mine?" Reimu asked cattily, her patience at an all-time low after everything the rival shrine maiden had already put her through. She had modesty Damnit, and standing in her rivals room in her bloomers was not her idea of fun.

"Geez, so scary," Sanae mumbled, and thrust an outfit towards her rival shrine maiden, who simply blinked at it in surprise, her legendary temper diffused for the moment at the, unusual clothing she was being presented with.

Reimu looked at the outfit, then back at Sanae, before returning to the outfit again, blinked twice, and finally asked the question on the tip of her tongue, "Err...what?"

Sanae didn't bother to give the girl an explanation, simply pushing the outfit forward into the other girl's arms, before turning her by her shoulders, and pushing the black-haired girl towards the open doorway, or more specifically towards the adjoining washroom eagerly, stars in her eyes that Reimu couldn't see.

"H-hey, stop pushing Sanae, hey, stop that, now Damnit," Reimu's cries fell on deaf ears, and she was finally shoved into the washroom, Sanae closing the door quickly and using a little bit of her power to make sure it wouldn't open until the other shrine maiden was finished.

"Hurry and change into that Reimu-san, or I won't let you out to have Suwako-sama's delicious beef skewers," Sanae threatened, grinning as she knew she had the black-haired girl's attention at the mention of food.

She was beginning to worry that Reimu wasn't going to take the bait for a change when she didn't immediately hear the sound of clothes being moved around, but Sanae finally breathed a sigh of relief when she heard movement from within. Grinning that everything was going according to plan, Sanae turned back to the bed, where she left all of her other changes of clothes when she realized she would have to "encourage" Reimu, and began to remove her own uniform.

Sanae was in the middle of changing when she heard a surprising sound from behind the bathroom door, a small, quiet voice asking to be let out. It stopped Sanae for a moment, but the green-haired girl quickly regained her composure, and hurried over to the washroom door, using her same power over miracles to unlock the door again, and allow out her fellow shrine maiden.

The small black-haired girl quietly shuffled out of the washroom, her head down in embarrassment, though Sanae thought she could see the hints of the girl's red face, making her squeal inside at just how cute her rival/friend looked.

What she had handed to Reimu was a set of clothing from the outside world, which she had brought along with her when she, Kanako-sama, and Suwako-sama moved to Gensokyo, and she had to admit, they made the Black-haired shrine-maiden of Paradise into quite the looker.

Reimu was wearing a long black pleated skirt, and a white button-up blouse, though it appeared that it was a bit too small for the girl (Sanae brushed it off as a minor case of misinterpreting the other girl's figure), so her pale, toned stomach was visible, most likely the cause of the girl's discomfort and blush.

Taking into account the girl's large ribbon and hair tubes, Reimu was the picture of adorable, and a small dribble of blood began to leak from Sanae's nose as she continued to look at the shrine maiden.

"It's perfect-u!" Sanae announced, offering the other girl a thumbs up, as her nose continued to bleed slowly, causing Reimu's temper to flare up in embarrassment.

"What's with that reaction! I feel like an idiot!" Reimu shouted, and finally gave Sanae the chance to see her face, which was bright red like she had anticipated, Though the blush only made Reimu look even cuter, which caused her nose to bleed more heavily in response.

Wiping her nose, Sanae grabbed the other girl by the shoulders in an attempt to console her, and gave her an honest smile, which she hoped might calm down her friend, "It's called Cosplay, Reimu-San. It's when you dress up like someone else, most of the time to look like fictional characters, for fun," She explained, "It's something that people in the real world like to do to relax and bond with other people that share their interests."

"Then why does this look like a high school uniform, if it's used for "fictional characters?" Reimu asked, thankfully it seemed her temper had calmed for the moment, so Sanae didn't have to worry about getting hit with a yin-yang orb for the moment.

Pulling away from the shorter girl, Sanae offered a nervous chuckle as she turned away from Reimu, "Well, the truth is that **is **my old school uniform, from before we came to Gensokyo, and I thought it would be a good introduction for you into Cosplay, since this is a land of fantasy and fiction," the green-haired girl explained.

"Then why is it so...small?" Reimu inquired, emphasising her point by cupping her hands over her chest, and her lack of assets which her rival shrine maiden (To Reimu's chagrin) had in abundance.

The blush now on the other face, Sanae was much less embarrassed to admit it now than when she was first arrived, "When we came into Gensokyo, something happened as we were passing through the barrier, and when I woke up, I had gotten taller, and more _voluptuous_," she explained, "That outfit had fit me fine when I was still in the real world, and I was quite a bit smaller than you are now, so that explains why it's even a bit small on you."

"I ought to exterminate you, ya second-rate shrine maiden," Reimu growled, but instead turned away with a flourish of her skirt, and stormed back towards the washroom, stopping a moment to grab a random hanger from the bed where Sanae had left them, before slamming the door shut.

Sanae stared in shock at the washroom door for several moments in surprise, blinked twice, and then let loose a muffled squeal at just how adorable her rival looked when she was angry, especially in that outfit, and resumed getting dressed, taking the fact she didn't get beaten as a good sign that Reimu was at least okay with this surprise cosplaying session.

She did stop to look longingly at her closet, where many other outfits hung, some new since her arrival into Gensokyo, others from the various conventions se had attended before the family moved to the land of fantasy, but knew better than to overload her friend/rival with her entire collection in a single day.

Baby steps had to be taken with the girl, since Sanae knew there was only so much Reimu could take without igniting her temper without any hope of calming her. It was any wonder her initial forcefulness hadn't caused Reimu to go berserk and level the shrine.

Sanae convinced herself that another time she would introduce Reimu to all of the outfits she had made based off of the residents of Gensokyo, but today she would simply introduce the girl to real world fashion.

And maybe, she added with a small giggle, a chance to tease the normally stern shrine maiden and see the cuter side of the girl that she kept under lock and key the rest of the time.

The evil laughter from the adjoining room probably should have worried Reimu more than it did, as she fought with this second set of clothes she had scooped from her rival's bed, grunting in annoyance as she nearly fell over. a cold shiver did run down her spine, but it was brushed off.

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The two girls were now seated on the porch of the shrine, each holding a skewer with several pieces of meat on them, simply enjoying the nice weather as they ate, though Reimu had her head down again, and her face was once more bright red.

Reimu was now wearing a somewhat simple red t-shirt, and what Sanae had told her were called skinny jean in the real world, which explained her previous fighting with them in the washroom, though they left enough room that anyone who had experience with anything other than skirts and dresses probably wouldn't have had such a hard time with them.

Sanae, in response, was wearing a light blue shirt, with a white and yellow striped collar, and a pair of dark blue shorts, humming to herself as she took another large piece of meat from the skewer.

The reason for Reimu's embarrassment? Sanae, upon seeing the girl in what would be considered casual clothing for girls in the real world, had immediately squealed, grabbed the smaller girl, and pulled her into a crushing hug, talking a mile a minute about how adorable she looked, and offering many compliments which made steam escape the shrine maiden's ears comically.

Thankfully Suwako had read the mood between the two girls, and after offering them both steak skewers, she ran off, claiming to be off to find the other deity of the Moriya shrine to offer her one, no teasing given to the red-and white shrine maiden, which Sanae didn't think the poor girl could take at this point.

"It's nice, you know," Sanae heard the comment, but didn't realize immediately that it had come from her rival, who had been especially quiet since she left the washroom the second time.

"What is, Reimu-san?" Sanae asked, turning to regard the other girl, who still had her head down.

"This. Spending time together, playing around like this, not having to worry about incidents, exterminating Youkai, or hating each other." The black-haired girl explained, before taking a bite from her skewer.

"I don't hate you Reimu-san, in fact, I consider you probably one of my closest friends," Sanae admitted, causing the red-white's head to snap up in surprise, brown eyes rising to meet blue, and seeing the small smile the green-haired girl had.

"But our first meeting, you told me, rather bluntly that you wanted me to close down my family shrine, just so you guys could be the dominant Shinto shrine in Gensokyo," Reimu explained, remembering the two girl's first meeting with some apprehension.

"Ah that was...a mistake on our parts, to be honest," Sanae admitted nervously. "You see, when we came to Gensokyo, Kanako-Sama and Suwako-Sama were both losing faith rapidly, so we needed a way to gather faith quickly, and the best way the three of us could come up with was to become the only shrine here, and hopefully be able to gather enough faith to keep those two from disappearing."

"You know, I think that just by appearing on the Youkai mountain, and making contact with the Tengu, you guys gained all of the faith that you needed," Reimu replied somewhat casually, taking a sip of the tea placed beside her, which the two girls had picked up before coming outside.

"Most likely," The green-haired girl stated shyly, "But we were still panicked about them disappearing, so we went a bit overboard, and ended up creating an incident."

"Oh, you should have seen Sanae's face after you defeated her," A smooth voice purred from over Reimu's shoulder, causing the two girls to snap their heads around to face a skirt in shades of red, and a pair of geta.

'Oh no,' Sanae moaned, 'Kanako-sama, please not now.'

"She was just so star-struck when she saw your amazing Danmaku display, and she went on for days about the wonderful shrine maiden of paradise, and all of the wonderful things we found when we came here," Kanako continued to purr praise into the shrine maiden's ears, and Sanae could see Reimu's face growing red once more.

"Kanako-sama, stop teasing her," Sanae shouted, but thankfully the snake was cut off by the arrival of a frog, who jumped onto the taller woman's shoulders.

"Kanako, play with me!" Suwako shouted merrily, grabbing handfuls of her fellow goddess' hair in order to stay righted upon her shoulders.

"What the hell Froggie, get off of me!" Kanako replied, attempting to dislodge the curse goddess from her back, "Damnit Suwako, act your age for once!" She ran off, the curse goddess still on her back.

The pair blinked several times at the retreating pair of goddess, before Sanae was startled by the sound of laughter, coming from the no-nonsense shrine maiden of paradise. And it sounded absolutely wonderful.

"Oh Sanae, your deities are the absolute strangest I have ever met, even the Aki sisters aren't that animated," Reimu managed to say through her laughter, the bell-like sound floating away on the breeze, and making Sanae smile in appreciation.

The green-haired girl waited patiently for the other girl to stop and catch her breath, before she tried to strike up a new conversation with the black-haired shrine maiden, "So Reimu-San, what did you think of.." Unfortunately the girl was cut off mid-sentence by the arrival of an annoying rat on a broom.

"Oi Reimu, I came to play!" Marisa shouted, the loud sound echoing down the mountain and startling the two girls.

"Ah, Marisa-san, what are you doing here?" Sanae asked, though she was cursing the blonde girl for interrupting her, she was still a good girl, and was courteous to every shrine visitor, no matter who they might be.

"Went to the Hakurei shrine to play with Reimu, since Alice and Patchy are busy with some prior engagements, and Suika told me you had dragged her off up here earlier today," The black-white thief explained. Blinking, she looked down at the two girl's from astride her broom and asked, "Am I interrupting your date?"

"D-d-date!" Both girls cried in shock and embarrassment, before looking at each other and quickly turning away again. Reimu was the first to regain her voice, "Why would you think we were on a date, you black-white baka!"

"Aww, Reimu can be so TsunTsun sometimes, just like Alice-Chan," Marisa said, ignoring the girl's question and floated down next to Sanae, safely out of reach of Reimu's fists, and whispered into the green-haired girl's ear, "But I think it just makes her cuter, don't you Sanae."

"What are you telling her, ya second-rate magician!" Reimu shouted indignantly, her face bright red, and caused the black-white to bristle at the shot to her profession.

Smirking down at her long-time friend, Marisa leaned in to Sanae, and said, a little too loudly, "Isn't it nice the things she does to make you happy, Sanae, like she has a big crush on you or something!"

Marisa laughed as she swerved out of the way of two yin-yang orbs that were launched at her, holding onto her black frilled hat with one hand, and her broomstick handle with the other.

Reimu had risen to her feet, and had five more yin-yang orbs circling her, face bright red, though Sanae couldn't say whether it was in anger or embarrassment, and floated into the sky, "She practically dragged me up here this morning without telling me what was going on, it's not like I had a choice!" Reimu shouted. "You wanted a Danmaku fight you Black-white, c'mon, three cards!"

"Sure, just give me a moment to prepare myself," Marisa said, waving off her friend and rival, who shrugged and darted up higher into the sky. The blonde girl turned to regard the other shrine maiden with a lazy grin.

"Notice how she didn't try to fight to get away from you, even though we all know she's more powerful than you are, and that she didn't try to bolt at any point," Marisa pointed out, before she flew up after her friend, pulling a set of cards from her apron pocket. The sound of Danmaku being exchanged, and the bright lights flying overhead quickly followed.

Sanae blushed as she realized what Marisa was implying, and quickly grabbed her own cup of tea, and took a large sip of it, before returning to her steak skewer, plans of asking Reimu over to do more cosplaying in the future playing at the corners of her mind, and making her lips curl up in a smile, as she watched the red-white, and black-white in another battle of the titans.

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**Anyone who talks about hair colour is getting shot...out of a cannon. Into a brick wall.**


	2. Chapter 2

"Once again, what are we doing out here? I feel like an idiot," A purple-haired girl mumbled as she shuffled along behind a springy blonde, who seemed uncaring of her friend's attitude.

"Oh come on 'Kanako', I needed to pick up some groceries in the village, and anyways all you ever do is sit at home drinking tea and eating mandarins," The blonde girl replied, a large ear-to-ear smile lighting up her face.

"Hey, I also have to keep track of what's happening in Gensokyo you know, you half-rate S-" But the taller woman was cut off by a pair of hands over her mouth, and was forced to settle for glaring at her companion.

"Easy, Remember the rules, stay in character," The blonde girl said, winking up at her companion with her grey eyes, which made the other woman huff, her cheeks glowing a pale red.

"Fine, but let's get this over with so we can go home, 'Froggie,' The purple-haired woman hissed back, smirking down at her companion before marching ahead.

"H-hey, that's uncalled for you know!" The short girl shouted, chasing after the taller woman while keeping a tight hold on her hat.

From what it appeared to the villagers, two of the resident gods of the mountain, Kanako and Suwako, had decided to come down from their perch atop Gensokyo's highest peaks, and were bantering playfully with one another, as the stories went.

Leaning into her partner in crime, the taller woman whispered, "Don't you think that people will notice how odd this is? Kanako and Suwako aren't often seen off of the mountain unless they're causing trouble, and their grudge for one another is kind of legendary."

"Oh relax Kanako," 'Suwako' replied, putting her arms behind her head, "We'll just pick up our orders and head back to the shrine, and no one will be the wiser."

"It's not the villagers I'm most worried about," 'Kanako' grumbled, still taking furtive glances at the busy streets, where vendors shouted out their prices and attempted to drown out their competition.

"What could possibly have you so on edge?" Suwako asked, looking up at her partner curiously.

"What do we have here, two Gods that wandered away from their mountain, you two aren't here to start another incident, ey?" a snide voice asked, causing both girls to freeze up.

"That's what I was worried about," The purple-haired woman mumbled, as the pair looked up, where a certain black-white witch was hovering atop a simple wooden broom, with a familiar frail-looking girl hanging onto her friend for dear life with her arms wrapped tightly around her waist.

"Marisa, get me down to the ground before you start picking a fight, please," Alice whimpered into her friends back, making her fellow blonde chuckle.

"Geez Alice-Chan, I thought by now you would be over your flying sickness, considering how often we go out together," Marisa commented as she floated to the ground, quickly hopping from her broom and half pulling the puppeteer along with her.

Alice stumbled as she tried to regain her bearings back on solid ground, and Kanako noted her face looked slightly green around the edges, though the blonde was trying her best to hide it from the three.

"As I was saying, what are two Gods doing off of their mountain, don't you two usually trade with the Tengu, not come down the mountain just for groceries?" The magician remarked snidely, catching her broom as it jumped into her hand.

"Are you implying something, black-white?" Kanako asked, narrowing her eyes at the other girl, and noticed as her smirk widened.

"Kanako, easy," Suwako warned, grabbing onto the taller woman's sleeve as a precaution, not sure just how volatile the other woman was at the moment, but unwilling to take a chance.

"Marisa, I thought you said you weren't going to pick a fight today, especially after what happened the other day," Alice reminded the girl, causing the blonde's face to pale, and Kanako to have to hide her smirk with her hand.

"Oh I would love to hear this story, Alice, perhaps we can recount it over tea some time," Kanako offered with a small smile, it growing wider when she noticed how the blonde puppeteer's face went hot pink at the suggestion.

Spluttering and trying to form a response, Alice was most likely out of the stand-off for now, leaving just Marisa, whose own face had seemingly gone pale.

Finally growing sick of the group's antics, Suwako pulled more forcefully on her partner's arm, forcing her into step beside her, "Come on Kanako, we have to get our errands finished and get back up to the shrine before the party begins, or before Sanae ends up breaking something."

"Fine..." The wind goddess huffed, and waved at the two, "It was nice to see you again I suppose, I hope to see you both at the party tonight," before the pair rounded the corner.

Once out of sight of the two magicians, Kanako's composure broke, and she bent over, panting heavily as if she'd just run several miles, her clammy hands holding tightly to Suwako as a sort of lifeline as she tried to regain her composure.

Suwako seemed unperturbed by this breach in character, and simply waited out the other girl's panic attack even going so far as to run her fingers through the other woman's hair soothingly.

Finally, once she calmed down, Kanako straightened back up, turned to Suwako, and cried out, "Sanae, what the hell was that!"

Wincing as the facade was broken, Sanae continued to run her fingers through the other girl's hair in an attempt to calm her down, "Relax Reimu, they didn't even have a clue that it was us, and you did a good job of imitating Kanako-Sama."

"A Good job?" Reimu cried, "I almost lost it under all of that animosity! Since when has Marisa ever been that nasty to anyone?"

"Well...," Sanae began, taking back her hand and scratching at her cheek, "Marisa might still have some hard feelings for the Moriya shrine after the Subterranean sun incident, but since we usually only see each other at big events, it's never really come out into the open like that before."

"You mean all those times I've seen Kanako and Marisa glaring at each other during the flower-viewings, it's not just because they are like that?" Reimu asked in surprise.

"Yeah, kind of. Marisa seems to really hold a grudge, especially against Kanako-sama, for what they did to Utsuho-san, and I think their personalities clashing play another part," the naturally green-haired girl explained.

The currently purple-haired girl sighed as she leaned back against the wall and sunk to the ground, and noted as Sanae followed her, setting down the wide-brimmed hat she had borrowed from her ancestor between the two.

"And why did we have to go out today as Suwako and Kanako specifically again, why couldn't we simply wear some of those outside world clothes that you introduced me to earlier?" Reimu asked in a tired voice, her body feeling like lead all of a sudden.

This seemed to brighten up the Moriya shrine maiden, and she cheerfully replied, "Because we knew that Kanako-Sama, and Suwako-Sama would be at the shrine all day, and wouldn't have to worry about running into them."

Reimu gave her friend a deadpan look, and sighed again, choosing to ignore the girl as she attempted to regain her composure.

Sanae seemed to take this as encouragement to go on, as she sat beside her friend, "You know, I'm surprised how quickly you picked up on Kanako-Sama's speech, it normally takes a lot of practice for cosplayers to learn to mimic the voices of their targets." The green-haired girl seemed to contemplate something for a moment, then perked up, "I'm also surprised to find out your natural hair colour."

Reimu winced at that, which Sanae decided to file away for future questioning, when Reimu wasn't being thrown head first into an uncomfortable situation, "Relax Reimu-san, you're doing just fine so far."

"Maybe next time we do this you can choose something a bit less public," the purple-haired girl hissed out, "I don't think I was anywhere near ready to go out dressed like someone else."

"Well, yeah, I suppose I rushed things a little bit, but don't worry it will get easier with time," Sanae tried to comfort the other shrine maiden, then caught onto Reimu's words more closely, "Wait, you actually want to continue doing this?"

Reimu seemed to look sheepish as she half-turned her head away, "well yeah, we don't really get to do that much together, since we're both usually too busy with our shrine maiden work, and despite that little...encounter," Reimu winced again involuntarily, "I have to admit dressing up like this is kind of fun."

Sanae beamed at the surprisingly endearing words from her fellow shrine maiden, and pulled the girl into a surprise hug, "Aww, Reimu-San!"

"H-hey! Sanae, get off", Reimu cried, attempting to push away the green-haired girl, unsuccessfully, "Come on, we still have to pick up those supplies for your party tonight, remember!"

"Oh yes, we can't disappoint Kanako-Sama," Sanae stated, suddenly all business, grabbing her hat and replacing it atop her head, before grabbing her fellow shrine maiden's hand and pulling her back to her feet, "C'mon Kanako, let's go get the rest of the stuff on the list...and maybe some ice cream!"

'What, h-hey! Slow down Suwako, you don't need any sugar, I need you to help finish preparations!" Reimu shouted, slipping back into character surprisingly easily after her small freak-out.

"For a wind goddess, you're so slow Kanako-Obaa-San!" The curse goddess teased, getting a rise out of her companion.

"Hey, We're both plenty old, no matter how young you make yourself look physically Froggie!" Kanako replied, though there was no bite to her words.

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The Moriya shrine party was in full swing, and many big names around Gensokyo had shown up to celebrate, even some of the most notorious rivals. Thankfully an unspoken rule about most of these events were to check your personal grudges at the Torii gates, and it was a rule no one was eager to break, especially when Yukari could be just around the corner to "enforce" this rule.

Reimu sighed as she straightened the bow in her hair one final time, taking a quick look in the mirror to make sure that it was straight, and quickly did a once-over of her outfit, looking for anything creased or crooked, and gave a curt nod when nothing stuck out.

Turning to regard the other girl in the room, Reimu hid a small smile as she saw Sanae doing the same with her own outfit, and turned to face the still purple-haired shrine maiden.

"I'm surprised you didn't suggest we Cosplay as each other tonight, just to see how many people we could trick," Reimu commented, as Sanae hooked her arm with Reimu's own, and the pair departed down the hallway of the Moriya shrine.

"No, there are too many people here tonight that know us well, Yukari-Sama alone would be able to tell immediately that I wasn't her precious Reimu, no matter how well I can act," Sanae explained, the other shrine maiden nodding in confirmation.

"And Remilia would probably be able to smell the difference in our blood, she spends enough time around me that she probably has it committed to memory by now," The purple-haired girl grumbled, making Sanae chuckle lightly.

"I think just these outfits will turn a few heads tonight, in addition to the two of us being together like this," Sanae explained, "It seems like everyone expects us to be enemies, just because we're Miko of competing shrines."

"It's not completely unreasonable, I know I put up quite the fuss when you first appeared in Gensokyo," Reimu mumbled, but Sanae seemed to simply laugh it off.

"Come along now Reimu-Hime, your adoring fans await," Sanae teased, and was rewarded as Reimu's face lit up like a stop sign, allowing the shrine maiden to pull her friend out into the raging party.

A few people turned to regard the new arrivals, and Sanae was amused to see some jaws drop in surprise at the pairs outfits, the green-haired girl feeling a burst of pride for her outfit choices for the night.

She did notice how Reimu was half-hiding behind her, but that wasn't unexpected, as the girl was largely unused to being the centre of attention, even during one of her own Shrine events, and grinned as she made plans to pull the girl further from her comfort zone.

Sanae had quickly decided since it was a party being hosted tonight, that she would pull out some real-world fashion, and, after fighting with Reimu over it for a short time, had managed to argue her into changing.

Reimu was now wearing a spaghetti-strapped red dress, with a white bow tied around her waist, and her customary red and white bow in her hair, with a pair of detached sleeves, much like her normal outfit, though her hair remained it's natural purple colour.

Sanae had, likewise, chosen out a blue-and-white dress, with her hair tied into a side-ponytail by a green-and-white ribbon, and blue-and-white detached sleeves. She'd decided to forgo the waist ribbon, as it didn't look the same on her.

It appeared that Yukari was the first to regain her voice, and quickly crossed the courtyard, now half-hanging out of a gap beside her favourite shrine maiden, hands on the girl's shoulders as she purred into her ear, "Oh Reimu dear, you look wonderful tonight."

"Shove off Yukari," Reimu replied cattily, pulling away from the Gap Youkai and moving closer to her fellow shrine maiden in an attempt to stop the woman's teasing.

"My Reimu, you look rather nice tonight, may I ask about the origin of those outfits?" Alice asked, as she half-pulled Marisa along with her, her inner seamstress out in all it's glory.

Reimu blinked twice, and turned to Sanae, "Err, you'd have to ask Sanae here, she told me these come from beyond the border, and something about it being party clothing, I don't know, I wasn't really paying attention," The Shrine maiden stated, scratching her cheek absently.

Alice quickly turned her attention over to the other shrine maiden, and Sanae winced as she noted the hungry look in the doll maker's eyes. Marisa and Reimu chose to ignore Sanae's cries for help as Alice pulled her off to a dark corner of the shrine as they shot the breeze.

"Oi Reimu, Not used to seeing you in something other than your Miko outfit," The blonde casually stated.

"Not used to seeing you being dragged around by a Youkai," Reimu shot back, making Marisa grin at her long-time friend.

The two girls settled into a comfortable silence as the party continued to rage around them, until Marisa piped up with a question for her friend.

"So, what's up with your recent closeness with Sanae, you guys becoming an item or something?" The blonde asked bluntly causing Reimu to splutter incomprehensibly.

"W-where would you get such an idea from you baka?" Reimu shouted, red-faced, and gaining the attention of a few party-goers, though they quickly averted their eyes when they noticed whom the outburst had been from.

"Well, you've been spending a lot more time together with her up here," Marisa began, taking a seat on the edge of the shrine's steps and beginning to kick her feet, gesturing for her friend to join her. Reimu hesitated for a moment before taking the offer, straightening out her skirt before sitting down next to the rambunctious girl, "and you guys are kind of wearing matching outfits, which just screams couple."

"I could ask the same about you and Alice then," Reimu grumbled, "when you aren't at my shrine mooching tea and snacks off of me, you're at either Alice or Patchy's place, harassing them for new spells to steal or doing research together."

"Alice, Patchy and I are just friends," Marisa stated firmly, "and that's not the point."

"Oh I would love to talk about your little love triangle Marisa, but please go on," A familiar voice purred between the two girls. It appeared that Yukari was back into the conversation.

"Ooh, this sounds interesting, Youmu, take notes," Yuyuko commented, plopping down on the opposite side of the shrine maiden, along with her faithful gardener. Youmu at least had the sense to look apologetic.

"I'm sorry for intruding on your conversation Reimu-San, Marisa-San," The white-haired girl offered, even as she pulled out a notepad and pen from an unknown location, and suddenly seemed to be wearing a pair of black-framed glasses.

"Youmu wears glasses?" Marisa asked, "never mind, anyways, as I was saying, There has got to be some chemistry there between you two, you only grudgingly accepted my presence at the shrine for the first couple of years because you were just too lazy to shoo me away, and here you are actively seeking to spend time with her and going along with her harebrained schemes."

"Hey, I'm not the one that goes to her, she's the one always coming to my shrine and half-dragging me up here every few days," Reimu replied, ignoring the smug looks of the three woman interrogating her.

"Ah, but Reimu-San doesn't try to get away whenever Sanae-San comes to her shrine, does she?" Youmu piped up, looking up over her notebook curiously at the shrine maiden.

Reimu spluttered at the question for a moment, before offering a sharp reply, "It's just too much work, and it's not like she would stop even if I did fight her, Sanae is nothing if not determined to achieve her goals, just look at her Kogasa hunts."

"So its the same reason why you put up with me back in the day?" Marisa asked, and when she received a firm nod, her grin broke out again, "Hah, she thinks she's simply humouring Sanae."

"How absolutely innocent of her," Yukari chimed in, "Reimu, dear, you can be so oblivious sometimes."

"H-hey, what do you mean by that you gap hag!" Reimu growled, but the three woman seemed to suddenly find other things interesting. "Ooh, Youmu dear, look at all that food, come, we must sample everything!" Yuyuko chirped, grabbing her gardener and pulling her away.

"W-wait, Yuyuko-Sama, please leave some for the other guests!" The poor servant cried.

"Oh, it looks like Mokou and Kaguya might be starting a fight, I'd better remind them why fighting isn't permitted during these events," Yukari said, opening a gap and falling into it, disappearing from view.

"Ah, looks like Alice is done roasting Sanae for secrets, I'd better go make sure she isn't planning another all-nighter," Marisa said in a nervously cheerful voice, sprinting away.

Reimu was left sitting there, growling slightly at what the other women had been implying "attention spans like a bunch of children," the girl mumbled crossly. She knew that she was only humouring Sanae because she was just too innocent, not for whatever perverted reasons those three had seemingly concocted in their heads.

Sanae staggered back over to her fellow shrine maiden in a daze, her hair and clothes slightly dishevelled, and looking like she had just gone a few rounds with Flande Scarlet.

Reimu looked up at the green haired girl, and could feel her cheeks growing warm as she watched her approach. turning away in a huff, Reimu waited for the other shrine maiden to sit down before trying to start their conversation again, "So, how bad was Alice?"

Sanae offered a small smile in response, which caused Reimu's cheeks to light up again, and she averted her gaze from the other girl, "She wanted to know all about fashion from the outside world, and I told her that I would bring her a few magazines and designs that I have. She seemed satisfied with that, and then started asking me about my own experience with fashion," The girl explained.

"Sounds nice, maybe you two can work together and create your own Gensokyo fashion line," Reimu teased, and got the desired reaction from the other girl, as she laughed.

"So what were you talking with Marisa, Yukari, and Yuyuko about?" Sanae asked, and Reimu stiffened up immediately.

"Err, oh they were just bothering me about when the next festival is going to be, and started to tease me about bringing their own food," Reimu lied, hoping her fellow shrine maiden would buy it.

"A potluck? Oh I can have Kanako and Suwako help me cook up something big, if Yuyuko talked you into it," Sanae stated cheerfully.

"And why did you immediately single out Yuyuko?" Reimu asked curiously.

"Who else eats as much as the Black hole of the netherworld?"

Both girls laughed at the teasing nickname for the ghost woman, and in the back of her mind, Reimu began to notice just how nice her fellow shrine maiden's laugh sounded.

it was a sound that Reimu wanted to hear more often.

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

**I didn't plan for this to be a follow-up chapter for this story, my original plan was to make it a standalone story that simply connected to my previous Touhou stories, but as I couldn't think of a good name for it, I figured tacking it on would be easier in the long run.**

**So yeah, this has kind of become it's own mini-series, but keep in mind these stories are written with the intention of being related to any future (or past) Touhou stories I publish, so there is an intended Canon here.**

**as an extra note, I'd like to state that if you intend to leave a review asking questions about future chapters, character interactions you aren't entirely sure of, etc, to please turn on your private messages. I'm not one to shirk questions from readers, and I try to keep on top of my reviews and to answer as many questions as I can (without revealing future plot points), and having your PM turned off kind of defeats the purpose of asking the question.**


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